Thursday, September
6, 2018
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:1-7 (NLT)
This is the second time this text appears in our readings this
year (you might think someone is trying to get a point across), and you can
read what I wrote about it HERE.
The line between wisdom and foolishness isn’t a degree from the
latest .com university. Iconic to wisdom
is the name Solomon, son of King David, author of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon is revered as the wisest human ever,
and we do well to listen to what he says about getting wisdom.
Traditional scientific thinking is that wisdom or IQ is a matter
of genetic predisposition; you’re either born a genius, an idiot, or something
between. More recent studies, of which
there are no end, argue everything from the non-existence of “IQ” to a
hyper-determinative reality that the DNA that runs your whole being like a
super computer is set in stone and cannot be changed. Many studies however seem to agree that IQ
tends to stabilize with age. It is this to
which belongs the advice of Solomon – the simple and young can grow wise – the wise
can grow wiser – leaving it up to chance (despising wisdom) is what the fool will
choose every time.
I’ve never claimed to be a fountain of wisdom; nor has anyone ever
labeled me as such. (Well, maybe my kids
before
they were teenagers!) But one thing I’m
certain about me is that I admire people who have applied themselves to get and
use wisdom.
Solomon didn’t write the Proverbs to display or brag about his
wisdom – only a fool would try that.
Rather, the king wrote to share and spread the Godly wisdom he’d been
given. A problem is that fools always
despise wisdom, opting to be hard-headed, knowing with absolute stubbornness
that they possess the right way, and need not listen to anyone else!
I speak from personal experience.
It was a simple thing; the zipper on my jacket wouldn’t cooperate,
and I was late for the school bus that would take me to my first-grade
class. Mom started to help me, and I
yanked the zipper out of her hand – NO! said the brat with all
his superior 7-year-old wisdom, I’ll do it! It’s almost like there’s some kind of merit
badge for always being self-sufficient and claiming to have accomplished life
by yourself.
It’s like that with politics, family, relationships and matters of
faith…we seem to learn the hard way, proving there are much fewer geniuses than
we imagined.
For You Today
Solomon said the fear of the Lord is the
foundation of true knowledge; in an era when the foundation is crumbling all
around you, strike a blow for genuine wisdom – live a life letting God’s ways
become your ways!
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